Working Memory

#core-framework #computational-lens

What It Is

Working memory is your brain's RAM - the active processing space where you hold information while thinking.

Capacity: approximately 4-7 items at once.

This isn't a soft limit. This is a hard constraint. When you try to hold more than 7 things in working memory, items start getting pushed out. You lose track. You forget what you were thinking about.

Why This Matters

Complex thinking requires juggling multiple pieces of information simultaneously:

  • Component A and its properties
  • Component B and how it relates to A
  • The goal you're trying to achieve
  • The constraints you're operating under
  • The next step in your reasoning

If this exceeds 4-7 items, you can't hold it all in mind at once. You're constantly swapping things in and out, losing track, forgetting important considerations.

This is why complex projects feel overwhelming. The system exceeds your working memory capacity.

The Constant Overflow Problem

When you think through a complex problem purely in your head:

  1. Think about component A
  2. Need to consider component B → swap B into working memory
  3. A gets pushed out
  4. Need to remember A and C simultaneously
  5. Only 4 slots available → constant swapping
  6. Lose track of where you were
  7. Forget important considerations
  8. Can't hold all relevant information simultaneously

You're not just processing information. You're managing a tiny buffer that's constantly overflowing.

This is why "just think harder" doesn't work for complex problems. More effort doesn't increase capacity.

Externalization Solves This

Write down component A. Now it's on the page.

Move on to component B without losing A. Write down B.

Both A and B are externalized. You can think about C and D while A and B sit safely on the page.

The page becomes extended memory. Your working memory is now just the processing unit. You read from the page, process, write results back to the page.

This is like the difference between:

  • In-place computing - Use only the input data structure (elegant but limited)
  • External storage computing - Use additional data structures (makes complex operations tractable)

Your brain tries to compute in-place using only working memory. Journaling gives you external storage. Suddenly complex operations become tractable.

Why "Hold That Thought" Fails

Someone interrupts you mid-thought. You try to remember where you were.

If the thought fit in working memory (< 7 items), you might recover it.

If the thought exceeded working memory (> 7 items), it's gone. You were actively maintaining it through constant mental rehearsal. The interruption broke the rehearsal loop. The thought evaporated.

This is why interruptions are so destructive**. They don't just cost time. They erase complex thoughts that can't be held in working memory without continuous maintenance.

Complex Thoughts Require Development Over Time

You can't develop a complex idea purely in your head.

Day 1: Vague intuition (fits in working memory)

Day 1 trying to expand it in your head: Too complex, lose track, thought doesn't develop cleanly

Day 1 journaling about it: Externalize current understanding (3 sentences)

Day 2: Read what you wrote, add to it

Day 7: Read accumulated writing, see connections you didn't see initially

Day 30: The thought is now 3 pages, built incrementally

Each session adds a small piece that fits in working memory. The journal accumulates the pieces into something larger than working memory can hold.

[[procrastination|Procrastination and Working Memory

"Work on project" is ambiguous.

To execute, you need to load into working memory:

  • What project am I working on?
  • What's the current state?
  • What needs to happen next?
  • What's the first concrete action?
  • What are the blockers?
  • What's the success criteria?

If this exceeds 7 items, working memory overflows. The cognitive load is too high. The task feels impossible to start.

Your brain correctly refuses to execute because it can't load the program.

Solution: The Braindump

Externalize everything onto the page in 10 minutes. Now working memory is clear. Read what you wrote. Usually one clear priority emerges. One specific blocker. One concrete first action.

The activation cost drops from 6 units to 2 units because the cognitive work has been externalized.

Pattern Recognition Across Time

How do you identify patterns in your behavior over the last month?

In your head: Impossible. 30 days × dozens of variables = hundreds of data points. Working memory can't hold it.

With a journal:

  1. Read through entries (external storage)
  2. Mark good days vs bad days (filter operation)
  3. Read good days, look for patterns (pattern match)
  4. Read bad days, look for patterns (another pattern match)
  5. Compare patterns (comparison operation)

Your working memory handles small chunks at a time. The journal holds everything else.

This is how computers process large datasets - they stream it. Read a chunk, process it, write results, read next chunk. External storage makes large-scale computation possible.

The Braindump as Preprocessing

The morning braindump serves multiple purposes:

  1. Dumps working memory - Everything taking up space gets written down
  2. Clears RAM - Working memory is now available for processing
  3. Externalizes complexity - The mess that wouldn't fit in your head is now on the page
  4. Enables analysis - You can read what you wrote and process it

After the dump:

  • Ambiguity that was consuming working memory is externalized and resolved
  • Activation energy for work drops
  • Starting becomes possible because you know what to start

Why Whiteboards Work

A whiteboard is always-on external memory.

You don't need to remember to track. You walk past it, see it, log. The visibility extends your memory into the physical environment.

You don't need to remember what you logged. It's always visible. The accumulation is passive.

Digital tracking hides information behind interfaces. You have to load it into working memory by opening the app. The whiteboard keeps it in the environment, reducing working memory load.

The 7±2 Limit Everywhere

This constraint appears everywhere:

  • Task lists: If you have 15 todos, you can't hold them all in mind. Overwhelming. Break into 3-5 chunks.
  • Learning: Can't learn 10 new concepts simultaneously. Learn 3-5, master them, then next 3-5.
  • Debugging: Can't hold entire codebase in mind. Hold current function + 3-5 related pieces.
  • Conversations: Can't track 10 discussion threads. Group collapses after 7-8 people.

Any system that exceeds 7±2 items needs externalization or chunking.

Question Design and Working Memory

Questions must respect working memory limits to be answerable. Unbounded questions like "How can I be better?" attempt to search the entire knowledge graph—every concept, relationship, and possibility. This exponential cost exceeds working memory capacity. The search either never completes or returns a random salient result.

Bounded questions add constraints until the search space fits in 4-7 items. "What's one improvement to work launch sequence?" limits the search to a specific system. "What's the next action on highest-priority task?" further constrains to a single prioritized item. The difference is measurable: unbounded questions overflow working memory while bounded questions respect capacity limits.

Question structure also determines whether answers overload capacity. "Tell me about willpower" could generate indefinite content. "What are three ways willpower depletes?" adds an explicit stopping condition that fits in working memory. The number constraint prevents overflow. This is why effective questions include LIMIT clauses—they bound the result set to working memory capacity.

  • Journaling - The primary solution to working memory limits
  • The Braindump - Daily working memory dump and preprocessing
  • Procrastination - Often caused by task complexity exceeding working memory
  • Focus - Maintaining single thread in working memory vs fragmenting across many
  • Tracking - Externalizing system state instead of remembering it
  • Question Theory - Why question design must respect 4-7 item capacity
  • Pedagogical Magnification - Resolution must match capacity constraints

Key Principle

Externalize, don't memorize - When complexity exceeds 4-7 items, write it down. Use journals, whiteboards, task trackers to extend memory beyond biological limits.

Your working memory is tiny. Stop trying to hold everything in your head. Externalize it and free up your processing capacity for actual thinking.